Monday, November 08, 2004

Hallelujah Fallujah

Ayad Allawi "authorized" US troops to destroy Fallujah today, although I think as of yet they have not "entered the city." This whole weekend, the television talking heads were chomping at the bit over Fallujah. You can feel the erections and the sweaty palms of every salivating Fox News "Military Analyst" through the screen. It is one of the creepiest feelings I have ever had. The feeling that this city has been condemned, that it is Gomorrah, and that the US soldiers are the agents of God's wrath, is pervasive in all the coverage of the pending attack. The announcement that all traffic into and out of Fallujah had been shut off was greeted as a welcome announcement, an indication that we wouldn't have to wait too much longer to see shit explode on our TV screens. It was Christmas Eve, and Santa would be getting us that videogame for Christmas, and we couldn't wait until Christmas day, when we could spend the whole day in front of the TV, blowing shit up. I can't stop thinking of the innocent men aged 15 to 60 who weren't allowed to leave. The old women, wives, grandfathers, handicapped, young children who had not yet left or had chosen to stay. The fact that if they died now it would be OK, because they had their chance to leave. That everybody now inside Fallujah was considered a terrorist. That, as Allawi said, the city would be "cleaned" of terrorists. Rahul Mahajan writes on Common Dreams of the first siege of Fallujah, in April. He also writes:

Even within horror and terror, there are degrees, and we – and the people of Fallujah – ain’t seen nothin’ yet.

This morning, NPR had Ann Garrels (sp?) reporting from Baghdad. She said, in response to a question from the stateside NPR person, that all or most of the citizens/civilians of Fallujah had left the city, that that was what "they" were hearing there in Baghdad. Just a bit later, NPR had some retired military person on who said that the number of 'insurgents' in Fallujah was around 2600, max. So everybody else is gone?? How many people are there in Fallujah -- 200,000? 300,000? And all of them have left except the one percent or so of insurgents? I don't believe it.

I'm also wondering about this 'emergency' state that Allawi has declared. Just who is enforcing this? The same Iraqi police force that is taking such a terrible hit from the insurgents and who knows who? Or the American military?

well, i'm sure if allawi "authorizes" it, the US military will be willing to enforce the military law. the more i am reading about comparisons of iraq to the philippines or other imperial adventures, the more it seems obvious that although the US asks the Iraqi armed forces (whatever they may be) to tag along on these operations to give the attacks "legitimacy", it just seems to be setting up the position (or simply digging it in deeper maybe) whereby there cannot possibly be a legitimate government that emerges in iraq anytime soon.